"You know what really grinds my gears?"

You know what really grinds my gears? All of this Matt Cassel talk. People are actually saying that the Pats might want to think about trading Brady. I don't think I need to explain why that is a stupid thing to say. Another thing I'm hearing is that Cassel has "proved that he is a legit NFL starter." Frankly I don't agree. Cassel put up decent numbers against some bad defenses. 11 of Cassel's games were against teams in the bottom 13 in passing defense and he didn't even play well against those teams. In fact he threw zero touchdowns vs the Chargers who were second to last in passing defense. He threw 1 touchdown vs Seattle who were last. Against the Steelers and Colts (two teams in the top 6 in passing defense) he combined to throw 0 touchdowns and 3 interceptions.

Cassel took over the greatest offense in NFL history. In 2007 the Pats scored 589 points while this season they scored 410. That looks even worse when you consider that the Patriots had one of the easiest schedules this season thanks to playing the AFC and NFC west. The Pats beat two playoff teams and 3 teams with records above .500 records: the Jets, the Cards who were 9-7 (I know they were 38 seconds away from the title but they had nothing to play for when they came into Foxboro), and the Dolphins who were 11-5. Last season the Pats had one of the toughest schedules in which they beat seven playoff teams and eight teams that were above .500.

If the Pats trade Cassel don't be shocked if it's not for a first and a second round pick. It might only be a second round pick and that's a good deal for a mediocre QB. Think about the Derek Anderson with the Browns. He had a solid 2007 against weak opponents and instead of trading him they kept him. After his struggles this season the Browns would be lucky to get a 5th rounder for him (but of course the Browns will be fine thanks to Brady Quinn).

Matt Cassel Era: Sept. 7 2008-Dec. 28 2008.
Sounds good to me.